Player > Armor > Shields
Shields
Shields are a new category of equipment. A character is
proficient with shields if they have the Shield Proficiency feat. Some classes from the Starfinder Core Rulebook
automatically gain shield proficiency, as noted in the feat.
Wearing a shield without being proficient has the same penalty
as wearing armor without being proficient,
but this penalty does not stack with itself if you are wearing
both armor and a shield with which you are not proficient.
All shields are considered to be designed to work with the
phase shield armor upgrade, and you can
use the arm wielding a shield to also activate a phase shield.
Phase shields do not grant a shield bonus.
Shields can be targeted by sunder combat maneuvers, and
their hardness and HP are calculated the same way as for
armor. Shields that allow you to use them
to make unarmed attacks can have weapon fusions added to
them, treating their item level as their weapon item level, and
can be made of any special materials that can also be used
to make melee weapons. The effects of these modifications
are applied to unarmed attacks made with the shield. Armor
upgrades added to shields are technological items and can be
affected by abilities as such, unless they say otherwise. Shields
themselves are not considered technological items for effects
that work only on powered or technological objects.
Name | Level | Price | Shield Bonus | Maximum Dex | Armor Check Penalty | Bulk | Upgrades | Source |
Riot shield, basic | 1 | 300 | +1/+1 | +3 | -2 | 2 | 1 | COM p.126 |
Tactical shield, basic | 1 | 250 | +0/+1 | — | 0 | 1 | 0 | COM p.126 |
Dousing shield, basic | 2 | 900 | +1/+1 | +3 | -2 | 2 | 1 | NSP p.151 |
Irising shield, basic | 2 | 850 | +0/+1 | — | 0 | L (1) | 0 | NSP p.151 |
Knight’s shield, basic | 3 | 1500 | +0/+2 | +4 | -1 | 1 | 2 | COM p.125 |
Deterrence scale, electroplax | 4 | 2200 | +0/+1 | — | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3C05 p.49 |
Gravity shield, basic | 4 | 2100 | +0/+2 | +4 | -1 | 1 | 1 | NSP p.151 |
Riot shield, field | 5 | 3000 | +1/+2 | +3 | -2 | 2 | 2 | COM p.126 |
Tactical shield, field | 5 | 2500 | +1/+1 | — | 0 | 1 | 1 | COM p.126 |
Irising shield, field | 6 | 4350 | +1/+1 | — | 0 | L (1) | 0 | NSP p.151 |
Rageshkor shield, green | 6 | 4250 | +1/+2 | +3 | -1 | 2 | 1 | AA4 p.97 |
Dousing shield, field | 7 | 6800 | +1/+2 | +4 | -2 | 2 | 2 | NSP p.151 |
Deterrence scale, amperometric | 8 | 9400 | +1/+1 | — | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3C05 p.49 |
Knight’s shield, field | 8 | 9500 | +1/+2 | +5 | -1 | 1 | 2 | COM p.125 |
Gravity shield, field | 9 | 13500 | +1/+1 | +4 | -1 | 1 | 1 | NSP p.151 |
Riot shield, advanced | 10 | 18000 | +1/+2 | +4 | -2 | 2 | 2 | COM p.126 |
Tactical shield, advanced | 10 | 17250 | +1/+1 | — | 0 | 1 | 1 | COM p.126 |
Irising shield, advanced | 11 | 25000 | +1/+1 | — | 0 | L (1) | 1 | NSP p.151 |
Deterrence scale, galvanic | 12 | 34600 | +1/+1 | — | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3C05 p.49 |
Dousing shield, advanced | 12 | 36800 | +1/+2 | +4 | -1 | 2 | 2 | NSP p.151 |
Rageshkor shield, rock | 12 | 37500 | +1/+2 | +4 | -1 | 2 | 1 | AA4 p.97 |
Knight’s shield, advanced | 13 | 50000 | +1/+3 | +6 | -1 | 1 | 2 | COM p.125 |
Gravity shield, advanced | 14 | 73000 | +1/+2 | +5 | -1 | 1 | 2 | NSP p.151 |
Riot shield, elite | 15 | 125000 | +1/+3 | +5 | -2 | 2 | 2 | COM p.126 |
Tactical shield, elite | 15 | 100000 | +1/+2 | — | 0 | 1 | 1 | COM p.126 |
Deterrence scale, voltaic | 16 | 178800 | +1/+2 | — | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3C05 p.49 |
Irising shield, elite | 16 | 175000 | +1/+2 | — | 0 | L (1) | 2 | NSP p.151 |
Dousing shield, elite | 17 | 256000 | +1/+3 | +5 | -1 | 2 | 2 | NSP p.151 |
Knight’s shield, elite | 18 | 400000 | +1/+3 | +7 | -1 | 1 | 2 | COM p.125 |
Gravity shield, elite | 19 | 570000 | +1/+3 | +5 | -1 | 1 | 2 | NSP p.151 |
Many-mien shield | 19 | 555000 | +1/+3 | +6 | -1 | 1 | 2 | AA4 p.71 |
Riot shield, paragon | 20 | 900000 | +1/+4 | +6 | -2 | 2 | 2 | COM p.126 |
Tactical shield, paragon | 20 | 800000 | +1/+3 | — | 0 | 1 | 1 | COM p.126 |
Reading Shield Tables
An entry on the shield table describes a single shield with the
following statistics, as described below. Individual shields are
described afterward. Not all shields have all the entries listed
here. Some shields do not have a maximum Dexterity bonus or
an armor check penalty.
- Level: The shield’s item level.
- Price: The typical market price of the shield.
- Shield Bonus: This lists the shield bonus to AC granted by the
shield. A shield bonus is a new bonus type added to those
bonuses that have already been defined. A shield bonus represents having a mobile
physical barrier between you and an attack.
Shield bonuses do not stack with one another, and they do
not stack with bonuses gained from cover. Having a shield
also does not increase the level of cover you gain from other
objects. For example, a character with partial cover and a
basic riot shield is not considered to have cover rather than
partial cover.
The first number represents the bonus gained when the
shield is wielded, and the second represents the bonus you
gain when aligning the shield to protect against a specific
foe. See the shield descriptions for details.
- Maximum Dex Bonus: You normally add your Dexterity
modifier to your Armor Class (for both EAC and KAC), but
it may be limited by your shield. Your shield’s maximum
Dexterity bonus indicates how much of your Dexterity
modifier you can add to your AC. Any excess Dexterity bonus
doesn’t raise your AC further and is simply ignored for this
purpose. If you are wearing armor with a maximum Dexterity
bonus while wielding a shield with a maximum, you use the
lower of the two values as your maximum.
- Armor Check Penalty: While wielding the shield, you take a
penalty to most Strength- and Dexterity-based skill checks
equal to this number. If you are wearing armor with an armor check penalty while
wielding a shield with a penalty, combine the two penalties.
- Bulk: This is the bulk of the shield.
- Upgrades: This is the number of armor upgrades that can be
placed in the shield. Not all armor upgrades can be placed in
shields, and those that do may work differently, as noted below.
The following armor upgrades can be placed in a shield’s
armor upgrade slot (if it has one): adaptive energy shield,
backup generator, brightlight projector, electrostatic field*,
fortified plates, light projector, quick-release sheath, spell
reflector*, tensile reinforcement, thermal capacitor*.
Those marked with an asterisk (*) provide their benefit
only against attacks from a target the shield has been aligned
against. (For example, a shield with an electrostatic field provides
electricity resistance only against attacks from a target it has
been aligned against, and deals electricity damage only if that
target makes a melee attack against you.) Armor upgrades used
as shield peripherals do not stack with armor upgrades that grant
the same benefits (such as DR, energy resistance, or bonuses to
saving throws).
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